Well, it was finally here...the day my best friend Pam and I were able to move into our summer apartment in Petoskey, Michigan. Little did I know that exciting first day of summer was nearly my last.

We were both college juniors, Pam at University of Michigan and I at Western Michigan University. For years, we dreamed of finding jobs Up North in Petoskey or Harbor Springs and spending a summer in beautiful northern Michigan. In 1980, it was not easy to find a summer job but we were both lucky. Pam was hired as a sales clerk at Cutler's, a high end clothing store in Harbor Springs and I was able to find a position as a concierge at the Harbor Inn on Little Traverse Bay. We couldn't have been happier! The two of us together, Up North, in downtown Petoskey! We just needed to keep our fingers crossed for good weather on our days off so we could head to the State Park dunes, Charlevoix or our favorite, Torch Lake.

Our rental was on the second floor of an old house that the young owners of the first floor flower shop decided to lease out for the summer. The basement of the store was used by a wood worker who made furniture and sold locally. That upstairs apartment was pretty bad. The furniture and fixtures were old and some even unusable. But we really didn't care. If we weren't working, we would be at the beach, anyway. And the price was right.

So, that first night, we decided to clean up the place and make it as livable as possible for our three months in heaven. We were the only people in the house since it was after business hours. The flower shop and wood worker?s shop were closed. Looking around we found a kitchen area with an old refrigerator and a questionable stove top. The bathroom had a tub, but no shower. Bummer. We opened a door to find what we dubbed, "the scary closet." There was no light, it was a rather large walk in, but dingy. No shelves or clothing rack. We couldn't imagine putting our stuff in there. We wouldn't even walk inside it. We imagined spiders and bugs or worse! It even smelled bad.

While cleaning and arranging furniture we found some old folding chairs that we didn't need. I suggested to Pam that we put the chairs in the closet since we weren't going to use it for any of our stuff. Pam said, "I'm not stepping one foot in that scary closet! You can!" Just to prove I wasn't as wimpy as she was, I took the two folding chairs and walked into the closet. The next thing I remember is lying on my back two floors below and looking up to see Pam laughing and yelling, "Karla, what happened? Are you alright?" I should point out here that Pam laughs when she is nervous or scared. All I know, it was freaky to look up and see my friend laughing at me as I lie on my back 20 feet below!

You may be wondering how did I fall through two floors. Well, I didn't walk into a "scary closet" after all. It was a false staircase. The stairs had been removed years before and ceiling tile was put up on the first floor ceiling covering the opening. Luckily, the ceiling tile cushioned my fall. Also, there was a pretty thick pile of wood shavings under me from the wood worker tenant.

I must have been knocked unconscious because I don't remember much of anything else. I believe Pam called the landlords to bring a key to the wood worker's shop so they could get to me and take me to the hospital. I could walk, with pain. I know our parents were called, but they were three hours away in Alma, Michigan. I do remember that my only concern was that we wouldn't be able to stay Up North. Maybe our parents would make us come home! Maybe the landlords would be mad at us and kick us out!

After being checked out at the hospital, I reassured everyone that I was completely fine. I broke a couple of rib bones and had a bit of a headache, but no harm done. Please, please, please let us stay Up North!

Now, here?s the real kicker. The next day the woodworker came to visit us. He told me the reason for the saw dust on the floor: His table saw was set up in that exact spot of my fall just hours before! He moved the saw to clean up earlier in the day, but didn't have time to sweep. He decided to save the mess until morning. I came very close to falling directly on to his table saw! I walked over and took a good look at the massive steel table and circular saw. I most definitely would not have survived; a broken back, at least.

I don't know what is more amazing: that I survived a big fall with very little injury or that this didn't turn into some long drawn out legal situation. Of course the landlord was at fault, but I was fine. I just wanted to live Up North for a summer with my best friend before going back to college. The landlords didn't purposefully leave the "scary closet" door unlocked. Times were different 30-35 years ago. I never even considered that somebody should pay for their negligence and my accident. They were sorry. I was lucky.

The next morning the young florists brought over a lovely bouquet of flowers.

All good! Let's go to the beach!

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.